The Joy of Padel podcast with Johannes Thomhave (JOPS03E07)

Padel TV: Revolutionizing How We Watch and Grow the Sport

Are you ready to experience padel like never before? As the host of the Joy of Padel podcast, I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Johannes Thomhave, CEO of Padel TV, about the exciting developments in broadcasting this fast-growing sport. Our conversation revealed fascinating insights into the challenges and opportunities of filming padel, the importance of globalization, and the future of padel viewership.

The Rise of Padel TV

Johannes Thomhave, a self-proclaimed padel aficionado, has taken his passion for the sport to new heights. As the CEO of Padel TV, he’s at the forefront of bringing high-quality padel broadcasts to viewers around the world. But how did this journey begin?

“I usually say I have three interests. Those are movies like film and wine and padel. So I try to work with all three because it’s my hobbies and interests,” Johannes shared. This unique combination of passions led him to the world of padel broadcasting, where he’s now revolutionizing how we watch and engage with the sport.

Challenges and Innovations in Filming Padel

One of the most intriguing aspects of our discussion was the technical challenges of filming padel. As Johannes explained:

“Filming padel is not about bringing the most expensive equipment or the most experienced photographers even because we’ve seen on Premier padel, we’ve seen Hexagon where they do make mistakes which you and me and others that know padel can correct them.”

This insight highlights a crucial point: to effectively broadcast padel, you need more than just technical expertise – you need a deep understanding of the sport itself. Johannes and his team at Padel TV are constantly innovating to capture the unique aspects of padel that make it so exciting to watch:

• Multiple camera angles to capture the full court action

• Instant replays and slow-motion shots

• Advanced statistics like smash speed and lob height

• Graphics and scorecards to enhance viewer understanding

These innovations are transforming padel broadcasts, making them more engaging and informative for both seasoned players and newcomers to the sport.

The Global Expansion of Padel

One of the most exciting developments in the padel world is its rapid global expansion. Johannes shared his perspective on why the UK market was particularly appealing for Padel TV:

“Everyone in the padel world is talking about the UK. That’s, that’s, you know, I was in the World Padel Summit, which I’m, you know, speaking at for the next event this year as well. And, and it’s, everyone is, you know, UK everyone is talking about, everyone is, you know, hoping to talk about the US as well, of course, from a commercial standpoint.”

This focus on expanding into new markets is crucial for the growth of padel. As Johannes pointed out, the sport needs to move beyond its Hispanic roots to truly become a global phenomenon:

“We need to globalize this sport. We’re making everyone speak English. In hexagon, there were 50 people in the press room. We were the only ones forcing the players to do interviews in English because this is basically an Hispanic sport and it shouldn’t be, because in a global level you need to speak English.”

Challenges and Opportunities for Padel Growth

While the growth of padel is exciting, it also comes with its own set of challenges. Johannes highlighted some key areas that need attention:

1. Language barriers: Making padel content accessible in English to reach a global audience

2. Diversifying player representation: Showcasing talent from beyond Spain and Argentina

3. Building a star system: Creating idols and recognizable faces in the sport

4. Balancing global and local content: Catering to both international fans and those interested in their national heroes

By addressing these challenges, padel has the potential to become one of the world’s most popular sports.

What We Learned About the Future of Padel

Our conversation with Johannes Thomhave provided valuable insights into the future of padel broadcasting and the sport’s global growth. Here are the key takeaways:

1. High-quality broadcasts are essential for growing the sport’s audience

2. Understanding the nuances of padel is crucial for effective filming and production

3. Globalization is key to padel’s future success

4. There’s a growing demand for diverse player representation in top-level padel

5. Local and national padel content is just as important as international tournaments

As a padel enthusiast, I’m excited about the direction the sport is heading. Padel TV’s innovative approach to broadcasting is not just about entertainment – it’s about growing the sport we love and making it accessible to a global audience.

Are you ready to experience padel in a whole new way? Head over to padeltv.uk to subscribe and join the padel revolution. Whether you’re a seasoned player or new to the sport, Padel TV offers an unparalleled viewing experience that will deepen your appreciation for this exciting game.

Don’t miss out on the latest padel action – tune in to Padel TV today and be part of the sport’s exciting future!

To find out more about Johannes Thomhave:

• Subscribe to PadelTV here
• Find or follow Padel TV UK on Instagram: PadelTV
• Find or follow Johannes on Linkedin

To listen to the show:

To listen to The Joy of Padel podcast, you can use the embedded player above, or go find it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or any number of other podcasting services listed here.

Send in your questions or reactions:

Please send me your questions — as an audio file if you’d like — to nminterdial@gmail.com. Otherwise, below, you’ll find the show notes and, of course, you are invited to comment. If you liked the podcast, please take a moment to review and/or rate it! ¡VAMOS!

Further resources for The Joy of Padel:

British padel | International padel | joy of padel | LTA partnership | padel aficionado | padel analytics | padel broadcasting | padel business model | padel federation | padel filming techniques | padel globalization | padel growth | padel industry trends | padel market expansion | padel podcast | padel production | Padel Sponsorship | padel star system | padel statistics | padel streaming | padel subscription service | padel Tournaments | padel TV | padel viewership | Swedish padel

This transcription comes courtesy of Flowsend.ai, an AI service for podcasters.

Minter Dial: Johannes, we have met and seen each other over various events. Great to have you on the Joy of padel in a few words. Who is Johannes?

Johannes Thomhave: Well, I’m Swedish citizen, so I’m based in Sweden and I’m heading up Padel TV, which I think the company is more interesting than me in the padel.

Minter Dial: Narrative we’re going to get.

Johannes Thomhave: But yeah, I’m, I’m 50 years of age this year and I have three kids, live in Stockholm and I’m the CEO of padel TV and of course a padel aficionado. So, I, I do love the game and that’s what brings me to padel and. But I’ve been, well, I don’t like the word entrepreneur, but I think that for a lack of a better one, that’s what I’ve been doing the last years. So, I’ve headed up a few companies, started a few and still own a couple of companies in. Yeah, in Sweden and other countries as well. But now I’m 100% focused on padel.

Minter Dial: Right. So, obviously Sweden and padel is a, is a thing, it’s a story. We’ve already had Kalle Åkesson and Danny Windhal amongst others. Seb Gordon of course. So, we got lots of Swedish folks in and padel is, is a booming big business in Sweden. But start us. How did you get into it? What, what made you say, oh, this is a fun, fun business or a fun sport to play?

Johannes Thomhave: Well, as, as most people, I started as a player, so I played a lot, I played a lot of padel and I’m, I’m actually better than I look. I, I used to say I us a fairly high, high level but, but not the elite anymore. But so, I started playing a lot when the sport was very new in Sweden. And of course, you know, as, as many people when you go to Spain for a holiday, you see these courts and you wonder, well, what, what are those? But now, now I know what they are and yeah, I was pretty early. I built my own courts. I have a horse farm in the Swedish archipelago, So, I built two courts there in 20, 19, 19. So, pretty, pretty early for being Swedish and yeah, for being the world as well, probably if you’re not Spanish and Argentinian. But yeah, so of course, naturally I’ve played a lot of padel at home and in, in venues as well, of course.

Minter Dial: Well, I can’t imagine how that, how timely that was must have been to have your two padel courts in your backyard through Covid, of course. One of the things I do like to hat tip to is how the Swedes dealt with COVID in such a much more mature way, in my opinion, compared to most of the rest of the world, which went running scared. But it must have been good to have two padel courts in the next. I mean, I don’t know anybody who has two padel courts in their home.

Johannes Thomhave: Yeah, well, what we do have in. When you live in the archipelago, which is very much the countryside in Sweden, even though it’s, you know, very popular in the summer, it’s. It’s a space, so it’s pretty big. We have horses as well. But I, I’m. I, I leave that to my, to my wife and daughters to take care of. And I, I stay on the padel course, I think. So, yeah, I could, I could have built more. But two courses, very. It’s very good for organizing events and club championships and you know, even if I’m playing, there’s always another court. So, if people want to come, it’s always. It’s always fun to be eight people instead of four and mix around. So, but, but it’s very interesting you should mention the COVID because yes, it was. It was definitely easier to deal with. I’ve. I have a guest house where, where a few Padel players have stayed during the years. And during COVID as you know, everything was closed in Spain, of course, and in most of the world. So, I had. Mike Yanguas living in my guest house at one time, of course. Cayetano Rocafort, who’s been living in Sweden many years and was the Swedish number one. He lived there more than half a year. Jose Sanchez David, who is a good friend and yeah, other players as well. I’ve had Paquito and Lebron coming to visit, but not, not that many times because of their schedule. But yeah, they, they do enjoy to play on my courts and I, I of course enjoy to play with them. And during the pandemic they were so amazed to be going around venues and seeing like this is amazing to watch what you’re playing Padel. Everything is closed in Spain. They were saying, you know, so. So, yeah, it was. I think it was a good approach. But it was quite strange in Sweden that all the gyms, everything was closed but you were allowed to play Padel. So, of course two things happened. All Padel players got Covid first in Sweden because we pass around that ball and the authorities didn’t think that that would be. Be a, you know, a transmitter, but it sure was. And yeah, and then everyone was pretty safe because, you know, because of immunity and so yeah, it’s. It’s it. It was a strange time for everyone, but in Sweden we coped pretty well. And I think what we’re seeing right now with Swedish players, especially the men, becoming very, very good on a world stage is. Is due to the phenomenon that was Swedish padel during the pandemic and also that we were allowed to play and there was nothing else to play. So, now we see Adam Axelson, Villis, Douglas, Rutgerson. These guys are becoming among the top 100 in the world and still going. So, yeah, I think we owe a lot to the. The Swedish authorities during the pandemic, padel wise.

Minter Dial: That’s a beautiful thing. I forgot to mention I also had Jonas Bjorkman on my show as well.

Johannes Thomhave: Oh yeah, He’s a good friend.

Minter Dial: Sweet. He’s a good friend.

Johannes Thomhave: He’s done a lot for it. He’s done a lot for Swedish battle against. I’ll tell you that both as the captain of the national team where he did, you know, far more than he’s supposed to, and bringing attention to the sport, of course, with his fame in tennis and. And now he’s actually. His son, Max Bjorkman is. Is. Is becoming one of the best players in Sweden and is now on the national team. So, naturally Jonas has, has stopped that job because, you know, it’s easier to bring his son in if someone else heads it up.

Minter Dial: Right. Conflict of interest, shall we say? Yeah. So, I, I just. I just was thinking, you know, two courts. My cousin Fabrice has two courts, so I should. Should have corrected that mid thought his two places. Two courts in. In Turks and. And then my, My co. My partner in one of my other businesses, which is going to be a padel startup, is a lady horseman. So, many connections and I like horse people. I think there’s a groundedness to people who know horses. All right, so what was it?

Johannes Thomhave: I always, always felt that way. I’m just as a side mark when I’ve. When I’ve hired people in other companies. I’ve always thought that as a positive. If you worked with horses, you’re very independent, you’re not afraid to do labor. So, I’ve always thought that as a plus when I do hiring interviews.

Minter Dial: Yeah, that’s a phenomenal anecdote. I typically like it when they’ve done some psychedelics, but that’s another topic.

Johannes Thomhave: Definitely. Yeah.

Minter Dial: Did I say that really on air? Listen, so padel tv, this idea of broadcasting padel. How did you come up, come into that idea? I mean, it must have been a very daunting concept. Is it big enough? Was there enough audience technically? How do you make it happen? What was it that convinced you to get into this gig?

Johannes Thomhave: Well, I do try to. I usually say I have three interests. Those are movies like film and wine and padel. So, I try to work with all three because it’s my hobbies and interests. So, I’m. I’m an educated sommelier, so I do a lot of wines and wine trips and yeah, obviously drink a lot of wine. It’s an interest. And I also produce movies mostly in Sweden, but sometimes abroad as well. And of course I wanted to find a way to work with Padel and the natural thing is to, to head up or start a padel venue. But that was going very fast in Sweden, too fast as it were and which would would be become very obvious as it is now. But. So, thankfully I never got into that, but I did have some proposals and ideas but. But then came the opportunity to become a part owner and, and head up as a CEO. The padel TV that started in 2021 in Sweden with the agreement that. To be the exclusive partner of the Swedish padel Federation with the. Yeah. Calle Akesson, who you mentioned was the. He was the sole employee at that time. Now they’re 11 or something I think, but going fast.

Minter Dial: Swedish Federation.

Johannes Thomhave: Yeah, at the Swedish Federation. So, we had a three year agreement with the Swedish Federation which was the start of our company and it was actually not me that founded it, it was two other guys. One is still part owner but small one and the other one is. Is out. So, yeah, things have changed but, but they approached me and, and yeah, the one who’s still, still a part owner was the CEO of the biggest newspaper in Sweden, Aftonblade, when I worked for them. So, he knew me and, and wanted me and introduced me to the other. The team. And yeah, so that’s how I started with it. I had no, you know, previous knowledge of broadcasting, so that’s a skill I have to learn as we go and I’m still learning, but I do know how to head up a company and marketing and strategies and yeah, we’ve, we’ve learned a lot. Our agreements with the federations now that are with the Danish Federation and of course we came to contact with the LTA for the exclusive partnership of streaming all sanctioned tournaments and the British Padel Tour and the upcoming first ever British national championships. So, now our deals with them are looking well, much better from our part, from our side of the story. In the beginning everyone in Sweden thought that Padu was going, you know, you you. You would have thought that it was going to outgrow football or something in, in the way that people invested in it. But it turns out it’s not outgrowing football anytime soon at least, but it’s becoming one of the biggest sports in the world and in Sweden. And that’s, that’s good enough, of course. So, our idea is to produce padel the elite level, but in a high quality way. So, with multiple cameras, instant replays, commentary studio with hosts and graphics so as to model it from what you see on football or tennis. And yeah, that’s. And that’s what we do and put that on our own platform, of course.

Minter Dial: So, I want to get into all that, but I do have a lingering question coming back, which is you got passion for padel. You have the love of film. Get it? I’m just wondering how do you slip in the analogy and your wine in this. Is it, is it behind the camera? Is it celebrating at the end of the tournament? I’m just wondering where the wine fits in.

Johannes Thomhave: Well, of course, of course the wine doesn’t fit in very well on court, of course, but there’s a time for everything and, and so, so the wine probably goes with the. When it’s off court.

Minter Dial: I do I. Johanna site. There’s something I remember. I mean, I’ve been playing padel for over 50 years now and I do recall in the early days, late 70s, and when I was allowed drinking, you know, whatever it was, John Jen and tonics or a. What do they call the vino tinto de verano. You know, the, the typical thing. But playing with it in my hand because we didn’t take it quite as seriously back in those days. All right, so anyway, congratulations for the. The lta. They want to get into that in a moment, but talking about getting filming padel because most of us who are listening probably are players we may watch. But I’m. I’m interested to hear what are the trickier elements, the challenges of filming padel. Is there. Is it better to have it? Is there lighting the real issue, the. The glass and I can imagine the reflection. How many cameras do you need to have? How many people do you need to produce this? The. The thing where you have times to obviously focus in. On. On certain people or certain shots. And does that include also the ability to have the third umpire for video replays?

Johannes Thomhave: Well, of course it’s an interesting question and one we deal with all the time, but I’m not really sure just to be humble that we’re filming padel exactly the way it’s supposed to be done in the best way because it’s a very young sport and now it’s sort of become a norm. How to do it from what we call the VPT or from the World padel Tour angle where the main camera tries to get the fence the. Out of the, the back fence from the. The closest wall in an angle. So, the fence, the lower part of the fence aligns with the lower part of the net and the high part of the fence goes exactly just below the service line on the faraway court. So, that’s what we call the WPT angle. And it requires like 14 minutes, 14 meters back and 7 meters up, something like that. So, that’s what we’re aiming for. But of course we need a manned close up camera and we need a net camera if there’s our of court play. And preferably we need a beauty shot of the venue and. Yeah, well it’s. Is it easy enough to see our broadcasts but. And preferably we’re doing more courts like we’re doing a FIP silver now that’s already done when we get out this broadcast. But there we do four courts and in different quality and varieties but always with a scorecard of course because padel is unbearable to watch if you don’t have a scorecard. And, and so that’s the baseline of course a scorecard and a good main camera. But then you need close ups, you need slow mos, you need instant replays, you need someone following the ball in court and you pose a good question because it’s filming. Padel is not about bringing the, the most expensive equipment or the most experienced photographers even because we’ve seen on Premiere padel, we’ve seen Hexagon where they do make mistakes which you and me and others that know padel can correct them. Like you know, a good example is when they do a instant replay during a golden point which makes you miss the how the game ends, you know, so and of course they, they have to understand how to court play and the rules in order to follow it in the best way. So, being a young sport we do try to find different new, new aspects of the game. I think graphics and statistics is heightening the viewer experience a lot. But we do need like unforced errors, winners, smash speed which everyone is talking oh, who has the hardest smash on the World Tour? Well we could actually say that for a fact if we use smash speed like we did in, in the Hexagon cup this year, right. And we also had lob height which is the in interesting element Everyone is always focused in the fast play. But as we who play padel know, it’s the defense who wins the game. And, you know, one miss equals one winner. So, it’s always the guys who, even on the top level, the guys who miss are the guys the losers.. So, that’s an element I really like with the sport. I hate playing against people who never miss, but I think they are the best padel players per se, because, you know, tennis is all about the winners, but.

Minter Dial: Right.

Johannes Thomhave: But in Pado is about not. It’s a game of not missing. And I like to capture that even in the broadcast as well.

Minter Dial: I love that. Johannes the. So, I, I like the idea this notion you’re bringing to me around really gets. You need to know the game in order to film because it is a dynamic sport and it’s not the same. But you can’t intuitively understand everything. You kind of need to know that you can play out of bounds. What, what is a good ball, bad ball and all that. So, that, that’s really interesting. And from a technical standpoint, how do you. Is it using artificial intelligence to understand the lob height? What, how, how does that happen? Because typically, I mean, most of the time when we’re filming the lob. I mean, these big ones anyway, Pinchado, they’ll be way out of the zone, typically. So, do you actually follow it? How, how on earth do you measure those?

Johannes Thomhave: Yeah, well, when you go into technical details, it’s, it’s a trajectory. So, if you, if you are to measure speed, you need two cameras because you need to have the difference from where the ball is moving. You could actually do spin percentage. Never been done, but I’m, I’m. I’m exploring that. So, you could do. Because, of course, ball spin is a very key element in Padel, which is probably not in tennis in the same way. So, we’re looking into doing that. But of course, yeah, you need to follow the ball with the camera. But cameras do pick up a lot. And in the case of Hexagon, we used a system that’s very big in the tennis arena as well, but it requires 45 to 50 cameras on one court. So, it’s pretty big. Pretty big. And of course, very costly. So, we don’t use that for, for very small tournaments, but, but in, in big tournaments, that’s good. And like the upcoming Intercontinental cup, you know, America versus Europe, which is probably the biggest event. Event we’ve done so far in, and that’s coming back this year. And I’m very, I’m very pleased that the Hexagon team will be organizing that because they’re very, doing a very good event. So, they’ve actually teamed up with, with Premier padel and, and fit for this one. And there of course then we will have, you know, the best production we can ever have. And that’s, that’s, that goes a bit further than, than Premier padel and World padel Tour. But, but yeah, it does require a lot of cameras to, to do those, to do those statistics. Yes.

Minter Dial: And for me, what I’m thinking about is capturing that data because one of the, it’s amazing how in even outdoor a lot of people don’t do high lobs. I mean doing high lob after high lob after high lob is a bit boring, but it’s amazing. It would be really useful. I’d love to have that information. And the other thing that we should have though is where they land because my typical what I, when I, when I’m coaching, I’ll talk about 90% of pros lobs land on or behind the service line. And, and, and they have a very high accuracy rate in that space, those three meters. And so, I, I wonder if you can’t also grab their precision because, you know, that’s something you practice. I just was having Ksenia Sharifova on and talking about how getting the lob right is so important and something you practice, you know, anyway, that, that if you can grab me something, I’ll share that.

Johannes Thomhave: That’s very and very different lobs as well because you have the fast paced lob.

Minter Dial: Sure.

Johannes Thomhave: Which, which barely reaches the, the back glass and you don’t get any bounce afterwards. So, and of course you, you need to reach that one. It should just, just be out of reach. So, so you try to reach it and, and you get stretched out in the air. But that’s a, that’s a beautiful shot. I think you, now I’m talking like I’m an expert in padel but, and I’m an amateur player but, but lob is the best shot. Bella told me once, which I think was really good, that he said the Smashers get the girls but the lobbers win the match. And you know, there’s something, there’s some truth to that. That’s some truth to that. So, it’s, you know, and Paquito always, he told me when we played outdoors and I like to lob 20, 30 meters and he said there’s no one in the world that doesn’t have a problem with those lobs. If you lob that high the ball is coming down so fast. So, timing is impossible to get exactly right. So, all these smashers that you know dominate when you’re indoors, they have a real struggle playing outside. And, and it’s not because the bullet coming down fast, but also everything is moving. Not only wind and sun, but trees, clouds, everything you use for, for, for, you know, perfect timing is out of place. So, so in that moment he said, I always just put, put the ball in, put the ball in until I get the right, the right, you know, moment to do a smash. Because in, in the other instance I can miss. And it’s a, remember, it’s a game of not missing. So, I think that’s probably the key thing you see for new players. They always want to end the ball early and go for the hardship.

Minter Dial: They think they’re like Tapia. You can see Paquito, he, he, one of those big, those pinchado lobs you can just see just pushing the back and no biggie. But anyway, let’s, let’s continue on because I wanted to talk to you about your, the LTA agreement. So, you signed a three year agreement, as I understand it, with the LTA to broadcast their stuff. What, what made the UK market appealing for you? Why did you choose the UK? Because you’ve done Denmark, you’ve done Sweden. Give us an insight as to why you chose UT UK.

Johannes Thomhave: Yeah, well, it is quite interesting just to, to say that, you know, padel is very. Yeah, it’s growing very fast on a global scale. So, it’s very interesting to see where you would go next. And normally we’re looking of course to, to see where is padel growing that much. Of course we need, we need to have an established tour, otherwise we have nothing to film because the tour is what, what we build everything around. And then of course the national championships are even more interesting, but they’re once a year so we need a good padel tour for that country. And the LTA British padel Tour is, is ongoing. But this year we will elevate it and, and promote it much better and in a very good way, you know, professionalizing the sport. So, of course it comes down to collaboration with the federation. I always want to grow the sport together with the federation because they are the sport which many people don’t really understand that. You know, you can do invitationals, you can do celebrity events, pro ams, whatever. And those are really important. We need those showcasing padel to new verticals. You know, most people still think the padel revolves around making a canoe go forward, you know, so it’s it’s, we’re in the, we’re in the teaching business. We have to teach people what padel is and those events are showcasing our sport in a good way. So, that’s perfect. But the sport will always grow through ranked sanctioned tournaments with points. The real sport will always be through an international federation or a national federation. So, that’s, that’s where we’re coming from. And. Yeah. Why the LTA? Why England? Of course. Everyone in the padel world is talking about the UK. That’s, that’s, you know, I was in the World padel Summit, which I’m, you know, speaking at for the next event this year as well. And, and it’s, everyone is, you know, UK everyone is talking about, everyone is, you know, hoping to talk about the US as well, of course, from a commercial standpoint. But, but I think when I started talking to tomorrow, Tom, Tom Murray from the LTA, who’s head of padel there, Britain had 200 courts eight or nine months ago. And when we finalized the deal, now we. Britain has 700 courts. So, the growth is exponential and it’s fantastic to be a part of and it will of course continue to grow. And of course it’s also very. Well, it’s very comforting or what would you say? It’s positive that the LTA of course is a multi-million dollar company that runs the Wimbledon and has a very big organization. We are used to dealing with newly started padel federations which in their own right are doing a very good job. But here you have a lot of more muscles that can help grow the padel.

Minter Dial: Yes, right. Because if you look at somewhere like Japan where they have a separate independent, tiny. It’s harder. But the good news is when you get in at the beginning, I suppose you can provide counsel, advice, consulting if you will, and you’re not having to fight with ABC or whomever else. Espn.

Johannes Thomhave: It’s a blessing and a curse because you have to invent everything as you go, but you get to invent everything as you go because there’s a lot of important decisions to be made and to be a part of that is of course a luxury.

Minter Dial: And so, as I understand, the business model is mostly based on streaming subscriptions.

Johannes Thomhave: Yes, we broadcast everything on our own platform, which is padel tv, of course, and you can watch it in an app, which is the best way, probably. But also web based and Apple TV or what have you.

Minter Dial: I’ll put all those in the show notes.

Johannes Thomhave: Yeah, okay, great. But we have, so we do stream the padel ourselves and it’s a subscription based platform so our subscribers get to watch all padel. We broadcast from all over the world, no matter the tournament, no matter the country, one subscription provides all. So, of course the British viewers are not very interested in the Danish padel tour probably, but they can watch the, watch it if they like and vice versa. But everyone were probably interested in the European cup, the Hexagon, the World Padel Tour, America versus Europe and what have you. So, we try to put as much padel as possible on our platform. And yes, the business model is a subscription one. It’s, you know, it’s a, a way of course for us to finance the high quality production and people playing padel. padel is quite an expensive sport, you know, record wise. Just, just, just renting a court for one hour is pretty expensive. So. Depends, yeah, depends on where. But still with there’s nowhere, there’s nowhere an hour on court is, is the less than a month in padel tv and then I’m proud to say that at least so. And of course our other source of revenue is partnerships and sponsorships because the interesting thing now we’re in the beginning of the padel explosion in the world is that all people watching Padel are playing Padel. So, of course naturally the padel companies, you know, being racket brands, drinks, clothing, what have you, is they’re of course getting their target group because everyone in our viewership are also playing padel. So, and that’s the beginning of it. Of course in the long term I’m interested In getting a 1 or 2% of the people that loves to watch tennis or football or rugby or whatever, but they never play it themselves.

Minter Dial: Well, I mean the issue at some level for you and your business is that all people who watch play, but not all people who play watch, definitely not.

Johannes Thomhave: And that’s of course that’s a, that’s a growth process. And I mean the, the main thing for us, for us being in business is of course that I think padel is a fantastic TV sport. It’s a fantastic sport to watch. There’s a lot of action happening in the sports space. So, for instance, you know, we’re always being compared to tennis, so why not? But it’s a much bigger court, it’s much less social. It’s, you know, it’s showcasing the sport, the padel, where, you know, you get out of court play, you can let the ball bounce through the walls and yeah, it, it makes for a really interesting and exciting broadcast. So, we do get a lot of viral shots that go, go around the Padel community for, for ages and years just because we you know, produce it in a good way and of course, the main action the padel players provide. But yeah, padel will continue to grow and it’s an amazing TV sport. We’ve seen other sports come, like, I don’t know, floor hockey or whatever, that grows very fast, but then they’re not very suitable for broadcasting. And that’s the key issue, of course, for us, that’s in the business of broadcasting.

Minter Dial: Battle in tennis, there’s a long debate around the color of the ball to be able to watch it more easier viewing when it was a colored ball versus a white ball. I don’t recall the exact details, but in padel, what, what makes it, in your mind such a good television sport?

Johannes Thomhave: Of course, the action, you know, it’s a lot of action happening in a small, in a small area. So, you’re confined with four players on this, you know, 10 by 10.

Minter Dial: 20 by 10.

Johannes Thomhave: Yeah, 10. 10 by 20. Right, but, but yeah, 10 by 10 on each side. Yeah, you’re right. I should, I shouldn’t argue with you. You played padel me. But, but yeah, so. And also, of course, it’s, you know, it’s, it’s easy to, it’s easy enough to play. I’ve a good, a good description I think I got from my tennis friend Magnus Norman of Sweden, and he said like, you know, everyone can play padel the first time. You can just get the ball in running. But in tennis you don’t have, you don’t need to take a shower for the first five years playing tennis because it’s such a technically advanced and difficult sport, whereas padel is much, much easier to learn. But, you know, as the saying goes, easy to learn and a minute to learn and a lifetime to master. Right. So, it’s, you know, to play on the level where you watch the World Padel Tour players. Yeah, that’s a different thing. And that’s basically what we’re showcasing in our sport. And, and we need to build a star system. We need, we need people to, to have idols in the sport. And yeah, that’s, that’s where Tapia Paquito Coelho Salazar and Paula Jose Maria and what have you come in, of course.

Minter Dial: So, hopefully we can also get some non-Argentinian, non-Spanish stars. I mean, we have Sophia Arujo, we have Ksenia Sharifova, we have our Italian lady names. Just skip my head. But anyway, let’s, let’s go to the last question for you.

Johannes Thomhave: I think if you, if you’re speaking Italian, I think that Carolina Orsi is.

Minter Dial: The most strong exacto Exacto. Exactly. Thank you. Thank you. So, last question.

Johannes Thomhave: So, you’ve.

Minter Dial: You’ve gotten this business now running in, in the UK based on. On what you see, what is the next UK in terms of maybe for your business, but also just where. Which markets do you think are going to be interesting for you?

Johannes Thomhave: We obviously we’re talking to a lot of federations, because what we are doing is exactly what you mentioned there. Yeah, I think you put. You put your finger on exactly what the problem is, and I think the FIP and Premier Padel have not really got that yet, is that we need to globalize this sport. We’re making everyone speak English. In hexagon, there were 50 people in the press room. We were the only ones forcing the players to do interviews in English because this is basically an Hispanic sport and it shouldn’t be, because in a global level you need to speak English. I mean, all the players in France, Italy, Sweden, Portugal, whatever, you know, they’re getting their. All the player information is in Spanish and it’s like discriminatory against, against the world players. So, it’s, it’s making a threshold that is harder to get in if you’re not Spanish talking. But I think that will all change. I’m a very big advocate in bringing in global players. We should have Vindal in the, in the Hexagon. Oh, why not Adam Axis or not Simon Basket? We should have a British player like Christian Medina or, or Amy Gibson, who’s doing very well right now. They. Because that will multiply the viewership. Because what I know that the, the Premier doesn’t seem to know is that people want to watch their national heroes firsthand. They do like watching the World Tour, but they’re quite fed up with only watching Spanish and Argentinian players week after week after week. Yes, they are still the best, but there’s also thresholds being put up where the players coming, are getting. Are having a hard time getting into the main draw. So. And, and that’s not only because. Because there was players, because that’s, that’s tightening. That gap is, is tightening. And, and other sports are coming. I mean, other, other countries are coming and so I’m pretty sure we will see. I mean, of course, Danny Vindal was the first North Europe, Northern European within the top 50s, but I’m pretty sure we will see someone in the top 20s very soon and hopefully a Swedish player, if I’m unbiased. But I would be equally happy if they were Danish or English. And just to answer your question, yes, we are looking at two countries very, very closely right now, and that’s the USA. Of course, from a commercial standpoint, it’s unparalleled. Unparalleled with any other country. The padel is growing very fast, but of course it’s not taking off as it could. But timing is everything and if we don’t get in there, someone else might do what we’re doing. And as of now, no one is on a world stage. We don’t really have any competition, because Premier padel and Fit are thinking that this. This sport should grow, and this is their words, this sport will grow through the World tour. And yes, it will. But if you don’t include all the national federations, which is what we do, we. We prioritize the national tours and I. I promise you that’s the way to do it, because we get a lot of viewers that are not interested in watching the world tour, but they do want to see their own national heroes performing, preferably with and against the world players. But that will come. So, you know, hopefully already for Hexagon next year, I’m hoping, and I think we will see a lot more. A lot more countries represented in the teams.

Minter Dial: Well, what you can see is Hexagon is bringing internationalization. We have the. The Mexican team, the USA or, you know, Eva Longoria. We have.

Johannes Thomhave: Yeah.

Minter Dial: And the Brits and all that. So, that. That hopefully.

Johannes Thomhave: And apart from. And apart from the States, I would say United Arab Emirates is also very interesting. It’s already the biggest sport in Dubai. It’s outgrown football, you know, it’s. So, it’s growing very rapidly. And of course, there’s also a lot of money, which, of course, when you. When you start a business is also very important. So. Yeah.

Minter Dial: So, Johannes, I really appreciate you being on. Thank you so much for coming. Looking forward to getting on a court with you, whether it’s in your archipelago or somewhere. We make that. We make that happen. How can people track you down or specifically get a subscription on the padel TV?

Johannes Thomhave: Well, they. They just go into padeltv.UK PadelTV as it’s spelled. But I don’t know what you call that in English, actually.UK or .co.UK works as well. But. But. And then you just sign up and normally we have. You know, there’s no commitment or anything. If you want out, you just. You just sign off and you. You’re no longer a subscriber.

Minter Dial: But, yeah, I’m sure the quality of things in the games will help. I will be pushing it best I can Johannes. Thank you so much. Vamos.

Johannes Thomhave: Thank you so much. And sorry for talking that much.

Minter Dial: It’s all good.